Some thrillers grip you not just with their twists but with the way they expose the lies we tell ourselves to get by. Poison Wood by Jennifer Moorhead (releasing October 28, 2025, available now for pre-order on Amazon) is one of those novels.
Rita Meade is an ambitious crime reporter still riding the wave of her acclaimed docuseries on the Broken Bayou serial killer. But when a skull turns up in the Louisiana forest where she once attended the troubled Poison Wood Therapeutic Academy for Girls, the story hits too close to home. The murder conviction of her former classmate’s killer is unraveling, her father—the judge who presided over the case—is in failing health, and returning to the woods means confronting long-buried secrets. As Rita investigates, what she uncovers threatens not only her career but also her family, her relationships, and her sense of self.
Continue reading “Poison Wood by Jennifer Moorhead is a sharp psychological thriller about secrets, ambition, and survival”
Write on the World 